Cabinet for drafting implements



CABINET FOR DRAFTING IMPLEMENTS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. l5, '1969 I mvsmons; DAVID F. EVANS JOSEPH R. KLUG LEONARD J. YINDRA BY ATT'YS NOV. 3, 1970 EVANS ET AL 3,537,770

- CABINET FOR DRAFTING IMPLEMENTS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 15,1969

TSGN E N L Y F H R v D E N A O E D d L R v mm mm Nbv. 3, 1 970 v s ET AL 3,537,770 1 CABINET FOR DRAFTING IMPLEMENTS 4 SheetS Sheet 5 Filed Jan. is, 1969 LEONARD J. YINDRA BY 072 ATT'YS DAVID F. EVANS 5 JOSEPH R. KLUG 1 No 3, 11 70- D. F. EVANS ETA]. 3,531,110

CABINET FOR DRAFTING IMPLEMENTS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Jan; 15, 1969 FIG. IO

' INVENTORSI DAVID F. EVANS JOSEPH R. KLUG LEONARD J. YINDRA BY ATT'YS United States Patent US. Cl. 312-294 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A drawer-equipped cabinet which is particularly suitable for classroom use in the storage of drafting equipment and supplies. Each drawer is dimensioned to contain the usual drawing instruments, notebooks, and the like, and, in addition, to support a drawing board thereon. Each board covers the contents of the drawer on which it is supported so that when each drawer is locked its contents are protected against pilfering even if the drawers above and below the locked drawer were fully extended in an effort to gain access to such contents. Cooperative action between the drawers, boards, and cabinet frame simplifies removal and replacement of the boards despite their relatively large size in comparison with the drawers upon which they are supported.

BACKGROUND Providing suitable storage space for drafting implernents as used in the classroom has long been a problem. Because of their bulk, student drawing boards are usually stored in separate compartments apart from other drafting implements. As a result, most well-equipped classrooms provide separate storage areas for each students implements, one area for his drawing board and other bulky equipment such as the T-square, and the other for smaller items such as his drafting instruments, notebook, pencils, etc. If the room is used by a number of classes, as is usually the case, and if each student of each class must be provided with double storage areas for his drafting implements, then it is apparent that very substantial storage facilities are required. Such storage problems are further complicated by the desirability of providing the storage space for each student in close proximity to the drafting table to which he is assigned.

It is believed apparent that if a students drawing table were provided with drawers large enough to contain not only his drawing instruments and notebooks but also his drawing board, then the large size of each drawer would create additional problems. Full opening of such a drawer would require substantially greater aisle space than would otherwise be necessary and, because of the leverage which a large drawer would provide when fully extended, damage to the cabinet frame or drawer might easily occur.

SUMMARY The cabinet of this invention provides ample space for storing all of the drafting implements, including drawing boards and T-squares, for a substantial number of students, without requiring excessively wide aisles and without presenting any other of the aforementioned problems. The compartment of each of the multiple drawers is of a size suflicient to contain drawing instruments, notebooks, and the like; however, it is too small in its forward-rearwardly dimension to contain a student drawing board. Instead, the drawing boards are supported upon each of the drawers and, when so supported, extend well beyond the rear limits of the drawers. De-

3,537,770 Patented Nov. 3, 1970 spite their relatively large size, the boards are easily removed or replaced when their respective drawers are extended because of cooperative action between the parts which renders the boards readily accessible and easily slidable (inwardly or outwardly) and removable when the drawers are fully open.

When each drawer is closed and locked, the drawing board supported thereon serves as an effective antipilfering panel to prevent access to the drawer contents. Thus, by locking the drawer assigned to him, each student can be assured that the contents of his drawer are safe from pilfering even if other drawers above and below it are fully opened or extended.

DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cabinet embodying the present invention, the cabinet being shown in combination with a drawing table (broken lines) to illustrate a typical environmental use of the cabinet structure;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the upper portion of the cabinet with the drawers removed therefrom;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged broken perspective view illustrating the cooperative relationship between a drawer, a drawing board, and a board support provided by the drawer;

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional side view illustrating two of the cabinet drawers in closed condition;

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional side view illustrating a drawer moved to fully opened or extended position;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 but showing a drawing board as it is being removed from the drawer;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view illustrating details of the drawer and cabinet construction;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view illustrating the locking means for each drawer;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating the means for limiting drawer extension;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 10-10 of FIG. 7.

DESCRIPTION Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates a cabinet 10 equipped with drawers 11. The cabinet has side, top and rear walls 12-14 and is open at its front (FIG. 2). The size of front opening 15 depends primarily on the number of drawers 11 within the cabinet; while six such drawers are shown in FIG. 1, it is to be understood that a greater or smaller number may be provided. In the illustration given, the series of six drawers does not extend the full height of the cabinet and, therefore, a front wall 16 is disposed beneath drawer opening 15.

FIG. 1 illustrates the cabinet 10 in combination with a student drafting table 17, shown in broken lines. One or more tables 17 may be secured to the cabinet 10 to provide a self-contained unit. The flat top 13 of the cabinet is at approximately the same elevation as the top of the drawing table and may be used by the student as a reference table.

Drawers 11 are of identical construction, each having front, rear, bottom, and side panels 18-21, respectively. These panels together define an open-topped compartment 22 of suflicient size to accommodate drawing instruments, guides, notebooks, and other relatively small items. The compartment is not large enough to contain a drawing board or T-square.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 8, it will be observed that the front panel 18 of each drawer is substantially higher than side panels 21. Rear panel 19 is also substantially lower than front panel 18 but, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 7, projects above side panels 21 and is provided with a 3 flange 23 sloping downwardly and rearwardly from its upper limits.

In the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, cabinet and the front and bottom panels of drawers 11 are formed of wood or of a suitable resin-impregnated pressed wood product, whereas the side and rear panels of the drawers are formed of metal. It is to be understood, however, that such metal components may instead be formed of wood, plastic, or other suitable materials and, conversely, the wood components may be formed of metal, plastic, etc.

The side panels 21 of each drawer are provided along their upper limits with laterally projecting flanges 24 which ride upon the upper surfaces of drawer runs or drawer-supporting members 25 secured to the inside surfaces of cabinet side walls 12 (FIGS. 2 and 8). Transverse frame members 26 are secured to and extend between cabinet side walls 12 along a vertical plane disposed intermediate rear wall 14 and front opening 15.

The depth of each drawer 11that is, the distance from front panel 18 to rear panel 19-is substantially less than the depth of cabinet 10. The drawers occupy mostly that portion of the cabinet in front of spaced horizontal frame members 26. Since the depth of each drawer is held at a practical minimum to provide storage space only for relatively small drafting implements and supplies, the extension necessary to fully open each drawer is also kept at a minimum. As a result, the drawers and cabinet are less susceptible to damage which could otherwise be caused by downward forces exerted on the ends of fully extended drawers and, in addition, the aisle space requirements for full drawer extension are reduced.

Despite its relatively small size, each drawer is adapted to support a full size drawing board of the type customaril used in the classroom. The numeral 27 generally designates such a drawing board and, as shown in FIG. 4, each board is normally supported upon the rounded upper edge of rear drawer panel 19 and upon the ledge 28 of a board support 29 secured to the drawer adjacent front panel 18. The rear panel 19 engages the board along a transverse line spaced slightly behind the boards transverse mid-line; therefore, while drawing board 27 projects well behind rear panel 19, the major portion of the boards weight is neverthless in front of that panel.

Board support 29 is shown most clearly in FIGS. 3 and 4 and comprises a formed piece of metal which defines ledge 28, depending leg 30, upstanding wall portion 31, and handle portion 32. The depending leg portion 30 is of a height approximating that of side panels 21. Consequently, ledge 28 has its upper surface disposed at approximately the same elevation as the drawers side panels. A board 27 thus supported on ledge 28 and the upper edge of rear drawer panel 19 extends over the cavity or compartment 22 of the drawer. Furthermore, since a standard board is only slightly narrower than the width of the drawer compartment, that compartment is almost completely covered by the board when the parts are disposed as shown in FIG. 4. It is to be understood, of course, that narrower or shorter boards may be used with less effective results.

It will be observed, however, that the upstanding wall portion 31 of the boards support member 29 is spaced behind the rear surface of front panel 18. Such spacing, which should be three-fourths of an inch or more, permits a user to slip his fingers between front panel 18 and the front edge of board 27 to grip the front edge portion of the board for removal or replacement when the drawer is opened. In addition, such spacing or clearance prevents engagement between the board and the drawer locking means to be hereinafter described.

The board support is secured to front panel 18 by screw 33 or by any other suitable attachment means. A tongue or tab 34 formed integrally with the boards support projects downwardly from the bottom of depending portion 30 and, after passing through an opening 35 in bottom panel 20, extends rearwardly along a portion of the undersurface of that panel. Therefore, in addition to supporting the front edge portion of a drawing board and providing a handle for operation of the drawer, the board support 29 also braces the drawers front and bottom panels. Outward force applied to handle portion 32 to extend the drawer is transmitted to both the front panel 18 and the bottom panel 20. It is believed apparent that such a construction is able to withstand considerable force even where a tool such as pliers is used to grip handle portion 32 in an effort to force open a locked drawer.

Handle portion 32 has no opening but instead consists simply of an imperforate plate extending downwardly and forwardly from the upper edge of the drawers front panel. While such a handle portion is easily gripped for the purpose of sliding an unlocked drawer between its open and closed positions, it is difficult if not impossible for a user to grip the handle with his fingers with suflicient force to cause damage to any parts of the unit when a drawer is locked.

The distance between ledge 28 and the top edge of front panel 18 (or the uppermost limits of board support 29) is considerably greater than the thickness of drawing board 27. The difference is sufficient to provide ample space for a student to store a T-square 36 upon drawing board 27 without interfering with drawer operation. In that connection, it will also be observed from FIG. 4 that the spacing between adjacent frame members 26 of the cabinet is sufiicient to accommodate the thickness of a drawing board and a T-square supported upon that board as a drawer is moved between open and closed positions.

Preferably, the undersurface of each transverse frame member 26 should be at approximately the same elevation as the top surface of the front panel 18 of a drawer 11 directly therebelow when that drawer is closed. Such a relationship, coupled with limited downward tipping of the drawer in its fully extended position, produces an upward pivoting of the front portion of a drawing board as indicated in FIG. 5. As a fully opened drawer with its side flanges 24 resting upon drawer guides or support members 25 rocks or tips downwardly about the upper front corners 37 of the guides, the rounded upper edge of the drawers rear panel 19 is raised slightly to urge the drawing board 27 upwardly. Because of the downwardly tipping of the drawer and the sub stantial rearward projection of the drawing board behind that drawer, the rear portion of the board is urged upwardly the greatest extent, or would be so urged if it were not for engagement between the rear portion of the board and the undersurface of the frame member 26 for the drawer directly thereabove. Since the frame member blocks further upward movement of the drawing boards rear portion, continued downward tipping movement of the drawer causes the board to pivot upwardly about its rear edge in the direction indicated by arrow 38 in FIG. 5. Therefore, when the drawer 11 is fully opened and is permitted to tip downwardly into the position shown in FIG. 5, the front portion of board 27 is lifted off of ledge 28, thereby rendering the front edge portion of the board more readily accessible and facilitating removal of the board from the cabinet as indicated in FIG. 6.

Extension of each drawer is limited by cooperating stop members provided by the drawer and cabinet frame. In FIGS. 2, 5, and 9 it will be been that the inside surfaces of cabinet side walls 12 are equipped with U-shaped stop members 40, each stop member having an intermediate portion 40a which is screwed or otherwise secured to the cabinet wall and a pair of inwardly projecting arms 40b and 400 extending along spaced vertical planes adjacent the front opening of the cabinet. Drawer extension is limited by abutment between arm portions 400 and laterally projecting cars 41 at the bottom rear corners of each drawer. In the form of the invention illustrated in the drawings, ear portions 41 are simply lateral extensions of a bottom flange 42 of rear drawer panel 19, the bottom flange extending forwardly beneath bottom panel 20 of the drawer (FIG. 9). When the drawer is fully extended, the front edges of ear extensions 41 engage the rear surfaces of stop arms 40c and positively limit further forward movement of the drawer.

Ears 41 also limit the extent of downward tipping movement of the drawers front portion when each drawer is fully extended. As the drawer tips, rear panel 19 moves upwardly until the laterally projecting ears 41 engage the upwardly and forwardly sloping undersurfaces 43 of drawer guide members 25 at which time further downward pivotal movement of the drawers front portion about the upper edges 37 of the drawer guides is prevented. Since the maximum height of each drawer guide 25 is only slightly less than the distance between ear 41 and the upper flange 24 of drawer side panel 11, any appreciable tipping of each drawer when it is not fully extended is prevented.

The front arm 40b of each member 40 along one side of the cabinet serves as a lock strike which cooperates with rotatable locking member 44 to prevent opening of the drawer when the locking member is in its laterally projecting position (FIG. 8). The lock assembly 45 is mounted upon drawer front 18 and is preferably key operated. Since such lock assemblies are well known in the art and are entirely conventional, further description is believed unnecessary herein.

From the foregoing, it is believed apparent that the structure of the present invention permits individual storage of drawing boards in close association with other drawing implements stored in drawer compartments. By supporting the boards on the drawers rather than in them, effective storing of the boards is achieved without the space problems and other problems normally associated with the operation of drawers of larger size. Furthermore, since the boards cover the drawer compartments, and since the boards cannot be lifted to any significant extent when the drawers are closed, access to the storage compartment of a locked drawer from either above or below (by opening the drawers above or below the locked drawer) is effectively blocked by the board. Even when the drawer above the locked drawer is fully opened, the rear portion of the opened drawer still overlies the drawing board of the locked drawer, thereby limiting the extent to which the front portion of the board of the locked drawer may be lifted. The transverse frame member 26 directly above the board of the locked drawer also effectively prevents any appreciable lifting of that board.

It is to be noted that while the stop members 40 are secured to the cabinets side walls by screws or other suitable fastening means, the stop members for any given drawer are not accessible when that drawer is opened. Thus, the stop member 40 shown in FIG. 5 cannot be reached through the opening defined by the extended drawer. Since the stop members for any given drawer are disposed beneath that drawer, removal of a drawer can be accomplished only by opening the drawer directly therebeneath to reveal and remove such stop members. Assuming that all other drawers are normally locked, an unlocked drawer cannot therefore be removed without damaging or destroying the unit. Furthermore, because removal of any given drawer is effectively prevented, a board supported by a locked lower drawer cannot be removed by first removing an upper drawer, nor can drawings be stolen from such a lower drawer or from the board supported thereon.

While in the foregoing we have disclosed an embodiment of the invention in considerable detail for purposes of illustration, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that many of these details may be varied without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A cabinet having side, rear, and top Walls and having a front opening; a drawer slidably supported by said cabinet for sliding movement through said front opening between extended and closed positions; said drawer having a front panel in general alignment with the front of said cabinet when said drawer is closed; said drawer also having a rear panel disposed intermediate the front and rear of said cabinet when said drawer is closed; and a drawing board resting upon said rear panel of said drawer; said board having a dimension in the direction of drawer movement substantially greater than the horizontal depth of said drawer but less than twice said depth.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which said drawer also has side and bottom panels; said side, front, rear, and bottom panels defining a drawer compartment for supporting relatively small drawing implements; and means provided by said drawer for supporting the front portion of said board in spaced relation above said bottom panel.

3. The structure of claim 2 in which said means also supports the front portion of said board in spaced relation with respect to the front panel of said drawer.

4. The structure of claim 1 in which means are provided by said cabinet for limiting upward movement of said board when said drawer is closed.

5. The structure of claim 1 in which means are pro- 'vided by said cabinet for engaging the rear portion of said board when said drawer is extended to tip the front portion of said board upwardly away from said drawer.

6. The structure of claim 1 in which a plurality of drawers substantially identical to said first-mentioned drawer are mounted in said cabinet in a vertical series including said first-mentioned drawer; a plurality of drawing boards substantially identical to said first mentioned drawing board being supported upon said plurality of drawers as said first board is supported upon said first drawer; locking means for individually locking each of said drawers in closed position; stop means for effectively preventing removal of each of said drawers; the drawing board supported by any one drawer in closed position blocking access to the contents of said one drawer from cabinet space above and below said one drawer even when other drawers of said series are opened.

7. A cabinet having slide, rear, and top walls and having a front opening; a drawer having front, rear, side, and bottom panels defining a compartment for storing drawing instruments and the like; means supporting said drawer in said cabinet for sliding movement through said front opening between closed and extended positions; said drawer having a horizontal depth substantially less than the distance between the front opening and rear wall of said cabinet; and a rectangular drawing board remova'bly disposed within said cabinet; said rear panel of said drawer having its upper edge supporting said board along a transverse line disposed a substantial distance in front of the boards rear edge portion but behind the boards transverse mid-line, whereby, said drawing board is supported upon said drawer with the major portion of the boards weight disposed in front of said rear panel; and means provided by said drawer for supporting the front portion of said board in spaced relation above the drawers bottom panel.

8. The structure of claim 7 in which said means also spaces the front edge of said board rearwardly behind the drawers front panel.

9. The structure of claim 8 in which said means comprises a board support secured to said drawer adjacent said front panel and providing a ledge for supporting said front portion of said board thereon, said board support being substantially narrower than the compartment width of said drawer and having an upstanding portion spaced rearwardly behind the drawers front panel for engaging the front edge of said board to maintain said board and front panel in spaced relation.

10. The structure of claim 9 in which said board support also includes a handle portion disposed in front of said front panel.

11. The structure of claim 10 in which said handle portion is substantially imperforate and slopes downwardly and forwardly from said front panel.

12. The structure of claim 7 in which said drawer is mounted for limited downward tipping movement of the front portion thereof about a pivot line intermediate the drawers front and rear panels when said drawer is fully extended, whereby, said rear panel of said drawer is shifted upwardly as the drawers front portion tips downwardly; and means provided by said cabinet and engageable with the rear portion of said board to restrain upward movement of the same as said rear panel is shifted upwardly, whereby, the front portion of said board is pivoted upwardly away from said drawer as the front portion of the fully extended drawer tips downwardly.

13. The structure of claim 12 in which said means for restraining upward movement of the rear portion of said board comprises a transverse frame member extending between the side walls of said cabinet behind and above said drawer.

14. The structure of claim 7 in which a plurality of drawers substantially identical to said first-mentioned drawer are mounted in said cabinet in a vertical series including said first-mentioned drawer; a plurality of drawing boards substantially identical to said first-mentioned drawing board being supported upon said plurality of drawers as said first board is supported upon said first drawer; locking means for individually locking each of said drawers in closed position; stop means for effectively preventing removal of each of said drawers; the drawing board supported by any one drawer in closed position blocking access to the contents of said one drawer from cabinet space above and below said one drawer even when other drawers of said series are opened.

15. A cabinet having top and side walls and having a front opening; a plurality of drawers arranged in vertical series between said side walls; each of said drawers having front, side, rear, and bottom panels defining a storage compartment; means supporting each of said drawers for sliding movement through said opening between extended and closed positions; said drawers each having a horizontal depth substantially less than the depth of said cabinet; and a series of transverse frame members extending horizontally between said side walls of said cabinet behind said drawers; adjacent frame members of said series being vertically spaced apart to accommodate the rear portions of drawing boards supported by said drawers and extending therebehind.

16. The structure of claim 15 in which a plurality of drawing boards are disposed within said cabinet, each of said boards resting upon a rear panel of one of said drawers. 1

17. The structure of claim 16 in which each of said boards has a dimension in the direction of drawer movement substantially greater than the horizontal drawer depth but less than twice said depth.

18. The structure of claim 17 in which said rear panel of each drawer has an upper edge supporting one of said boards along a transverse line disposed a substantial distance in front of the boards rear edge but behind the boards transverse mid-line.

19. The structure of claim 18 in which means are provided by each of said drawers for supporting the front portions of said boards in spaced relation above the bottom panels of said drawers.

20. The structure of claim 18 in which said front panel of each of said drawers is substantially higher than the rear panel thereof.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 783,973 2/ 1905 McAnelly. 3,206,268 9/1965 Grow et a]. 3l223l 3,244,465 4/1966 Ulrich et al. 3l223l CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 3l223l, 330 

